Popular culture has shown many different portrayals of human resources (HR) over the years, yet HR is rarely shown in a positive light. They go from being shown, or treated, as if they were evil and sadistic in some depictions, to being depicted as overly friendly pushovers. There are many examples of these alternating stereotypes in the media, be it television shows, movies, or even comics. One of the most extremely negative portrayals of HR in the media is the comic strip Dilbert, written and illustrated by Scott Adams. This comic satirizes corporate and workplace issues. One of the recurring characters in the comic is called Catbert. Catbert is a cat and the “evil HR director” (Adams). He is best known for using his "random policy generator" (Adams) to come up with ridiculous regulations. In one of the comics he appears in, Catbert needs to keep his personnel expenses low. To do this he forces his assistant to give all the employees bad reviews. Catbert proceeds to provide the assistant with a list of the employees' shortcomings. The next image shows the assistant listing Dilbert's flaws while giving him his annual review. Dilbert becomes increasingly skeptical of the legitimacy of the revision when he realizes that its flaws were “suspiciously alphabetical” (Adams). This is, unfortunately, one of society's views of HR workers that popular culture is trying to portray. Catbert is shown as greedy, evil and sadistic. He is also shown as distant and removed from the situation as he delegates tasks that should be his to someone else. This is but one piece of evidence that supports the corrupt and greedy stereotype of HR that has evolved from society's fear of HR. Popular culture may make you fear HR departments, but at the end of the day, they're just people. And if they look a little like Karen Powell, there's no need to be afraid. Works Cited Adams, Scott. Dilbert. Comic book. Dilbert by Scott Adams, May 7, 2010. Web“Casino Night” The Office. NBC. 11 May 2006. Television. “Conflict Resolution” The Office. NBC. May 4, 2006. Television. “Dry Guys” Workaholics. Comedy Central. April 3, 2013. Television. “The Egg Salad Equivalence” The Big Bang Theory. CBS. January 3, 2013. Television.“Frame Toby” The Office. NBC. November 20, 2008. Television.Kreissl, Brian. “Improving the image of HR” Canadian HR Reporter. The national journal of human resources management. 26 July 2011. Web. 20 Feb 2014. Office space. Dir. Mike Giudice. Perf. Ron Livingston and Jennifer Aniston. 20th Century Fox, 1999. Film.Powell, Karen. Personal interview. E-mail.